A team of scientists from Michigan State University has an answer. By combining glass fibers with plant-derived and synthetic polymers, they were able to create wind turbine blades that can be remade into a whole host of other things once they’re done turning. Among those things is actual, edible gummy bears.
That’s because the resin that makes up the blades can be dissolved back into its original state, the glass fibers removed, and then it can be repurposed. It could be used to make a new blade, or turned into an acrylic solution used in windows and tail lights, or an absorbent polymer typically used in diapers. They even “recovered food-grade potassium lactate and used it to make gummy bear candies” that they then proceeded to eat.
“The beauty of our resin system is that at the end of its use cycle, we can dissolve it, and that releases it from whatever matrix it's in so that it can be used over and over again in an infinite loop,” said John Dorgan, a chemical engineer at MSU. “That’s the goal of the circular economy.”
